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Gordon Fox Rule
Captain Gordon Fox Rule, DFC was an Anglo-Brazilian officer of the Royal Air Force who served during the First World War and became an ace with seven claims. Biography He was born on 16 August 1898, in São Paulo, the son of Brazilian-born stockbroker William Fox and Marion Rule.Londrina, estado do Paraná: 25 anos de sua história, p. 112.Gordon Fox Rule, leismunicipais.com.br. Retrieved 22 August 2015. His father was a cousin of the footballer Charles Miller.Lacey, Josh (2007), God is Brazilian: Charles Miller, the man who brought football to Brazil, p. 99. Rule studied at the Colégio Anglo-Brasileiro before continuing his education in England. After graduating from Eastbourne College, Rule went to work at the Bank of London in Brazil in 1914.Franks, Norman L. R., Guest, ‎Russell & Alegi, ‎Gregory (1997), Above the War Fronts: The British Two-seater Bomber Pilot and Observer Aces, the British Two-seater Fighter Observer Aces, and the Belgian, Italian, Austro-Hungarian and Russian Fighter Aces, 1914-1918, p. 64. Commissioned on 5 July 1917,The London Gazette (30203), p. 7607. 26 July 1917, thegazette.co.uk. Retrieved 22 August 2015. Rule was posted in January 1918 to 49 Squadron, with which he flew DH.4 and DH.9 bombers over the Western Front. He was made a flight commander on 15 May, and was credited with the destruction of seven German aircraft between 8 March and 9 August. On 1 September, Rule received the Distinguished Flying Cross in recognition of gallantry in flying operations against the enemy. His citation, published in the London Gazette, reads: Whilst on a bombing raid this officer dived to 100 feet and obtained a direct hit on a bridge, completely destroying it. Seeing a body of the enemy on the bank of the river he attacked them, causing them to disperse in disorder. He was then attacked by five biplanes; these he drove off, though his observer had been hit twice, and he landed safely at a French aerodrome. In all, he has taken part in thirty bomb raids and ten photographic reconnaissances, invariably displaying a marked offensive spirit.The London Gazette (30913), p. 11251. 21 September 1918, thegazette.co.uk. Retrieved 22 August 2015. Rule transferred to the Home Establishment in Britain on 14 August. Shortly afterwards, he was awarded the French Croix de Guerre. In 1919, Rule accepted a short-service commission and was sent to Ireland, where he engaged in operations during the Anglo-Irish War. He retired in 1921 after a serious accident, and returned to Brazil in 1923. A few years later, Rule joined Brazilian Plantations Ltd (later named Cia), and would work for the company for some six decades. He married in 1936, to Norma Valeska Hacker, with whom he had two children. In 1984,Scrapbook and snapshots collected by Gordon Fox Rule, iwm.org.uk. Retrieved 22 August 2015. Rule donated, via the British Consulate General, various personal effects from his time with the RAF to the Imperial War Museum in England.Gordon Fox Rule, theaerodrome.com. Retrieved 22 August 2015. He died three years later, on 10 June 1987. A street is named after him in São Bernardo do Campo. Victories Notes Category:1898 births Category:1987 deaths Category:Brazilian military personnel Category:Royal Air Force Category:Royal Flying Corps Category:Captains